Andrew Jones

4 min read A Long March 2C rocket carrying satellites to space from China’s Xichang Satellite Launch Center Imaginechina/Alamy China has managed to deliver a pair of satellites into lunar orbit despite the spacecraft initially being stranded in low Earth orbit following a rocket failure, using a mix of complex calculations, precise engine burns, and astrodynamic ingenuity. China launched the DRO-A and B satellites on 13 March last year on a Long March 2C rocket,

5 min read The SUrface Dust Analyzer (SUDA) is one of the main components of the Europa Clipper that will assist the spacecraft in its hunt for signs of life on the Jovian moon. Glenn Asakawa/CU Boulder/NASA Europa is slightly smaller than Earth’s own moon and is one of the most fascinating and mysterious objects in the solar system. One of Jupiter’s four Galilean moons, Europa’s crust is a largely crater-free shell of ice, somewhere

3 min read This hyperspectral imager will take pictures in visible and infrared wavelengths during Hera’s mission to Didymos and Dimorphos. The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft is en route to assess how NASA’s 2022 DART mission impacted the asteroid Dimorphos. DART smashed into the asteroid at a little over 6 kilometers per second, sending out a cloud of debris and slowing it slightly. Hera’s detailed post-collision survey aims to tell us just how efficient

4 min read A new commercial spaceport in Hainan, China, is expected to launch China’s answer to SpaceX’s Starlink. VCG/Getty Images China launched its first batch of satellites for its Qianfan megaconstellation earlier this month. It now has 18 satellites in orbit, but much more will be needed to build out this network of nearly 14,000 satellites. Qianfan—”thousands sails” in Chinese and also referred to as Spacesail or G60—is a project run by Shanghai Spacecom

3 min read The Orbital Reef space station aims to go beyond International Space Station–era designs, preferring instead durable, inflatable modules boasting size scales bigger than the rockets that carry them. Blue Origin A changing of the guard in space stations is on the horizon as private companies work toward providing new opportunities for science, commerce, and tourism in outer space. Blue Origin is one of a number of private-sector actors aiming to harbor commercial

4 min read The lunar farside captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera. The Apollo crater, Chang’e-6’s destination, is visible as a dark splotch in the lower right. GSFC/Arizona State University/NASA China launched a spacecraft today that is planned to be the first act in a complex, multi-step campaign to achieve an unprecedented feat: Collecting samples from the far side of the moon and delivering the precious cargo to Earth. Queqiao-2 (“Magpie Bridge-2”), a communications